Admit it. Perhaps not to the extent of @mgojen, but you have a few fond memories of the RichRod era. You squealed like a little girl when this happened back in 2009: It was indeed a fantastic moment in an otherwise rough stretch. All this happened six years ago this Saturday so why not? It’s the subject of This Week in Michigan Football History: [display_podcast] Don’t forget to catch the whole KeyBank Countdown to Kickoff on WTKA 1050AM starting 4 hours before each game, and of course live in the Bud Light Victors Lounge when they lace them up in Ann Arbor. See you out there. Script: While Rich Rodriguez’s tenure in Ann Arbor was widely a struggle, it certainly wasn’t without its moments. One of those came on this day 6 years ago, and Charlie Weis and his #18 ranked Fighting Irish visited the Big House for what would prove to be another epic chapter of the great rivalry between our storied programs. The Wolverines got the upper hand early, as over 110,000 fans saw the Blue jump to a 14-3 lead thanks to a Brandon Minor run and at the end of the first quarter and a blazing 94-yard kickoff return by Daryl Stonem. But the second quartered was owned by the Irish as quarterback Jimmy…
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Butch Woolfolk Speaks His Mind (1981)
Through Tate’s twitter goodbye we got a little reminder of when Troy Woolfolk’s criticized Forcier’s workout habits this summer. You might recall that later on media day Tate said all the right things about Woolfolk’s words, and he added that, “seniors are the leaders of this team. Whatever they say, they can say—it’s up to them.” So I thought this was interesting. My pal Steve Sap sent over a clipping from a September 1981 Detroit News a few weeks back. In it, T-Woolf’s dad Butch Woolfolk (B-Woolf?) spoke to the media about his concerns about the team a few weeks into the season. Preseason #1 Michigan was upset by Wisconsin the opener but then smoked Notre Dame 25-7 in Ann Arbor. After a disappointing five point win over Navy many were scratching their heads–and the elder Woolfolk made it known he wasn’t happy with the flaky start: “I have a tendency to speak my mind, and maybe I shouldn’t say this…but this team is just not mentally ready…It’s a mess.” He added, “I don’t like this team right now. I don’t like it at all.” While Butch didn’t target a particular player, he did call out his fellow senior teammates saying, “The sad part of it is there are a lot of seniors on this team. And seniors are supposed…
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Broken Records
The offense continues to pile up yards and tripping up team records–the media relations folks will be busy today updating the record book. A few notes: * The team fell just six total yards short of passing the team record for total offense of 727 yards set last year against Delaware State. * You heard that Forcier set the record for passing efficiency (minimum 10 attempts), something they do track. Here’s who he passed: * 65 points is a mighty number, but to crack the top five all time Michigan will have to get really close to triple digits. Four times Yost’s point-a-minute teams exceeded the century mark, with the high remaining ‘The Mountaineer Romp’ in 1904 when the Wolverines doubled Saturday’s tally: * Of course the record for fewest punts was tied as Will Hagerup only saw the field in warm-ups (and not even that much then). This happened three other times according to the books: * Ahh, the obligatory history nerd nitpick. The books cite the most punts by an opponent as Ohio State with 21 during the awesome 1950 punt fest, the Snow Bowl. I strenuously object, like Demi Moore in A Few Good Men. Media Relations might argue the punting statistics don’t go back that far (understood), but it appears the Gophers punted 25 times in…
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I Think it was the Fourth of July
What a day at the Big House yesterday but it’d be a much different feeling and memory had the team fell flat. Off the Field: Artwork: I love that they honored the national championship teams with these larger-than-life displays. I didn’t get a chance to get over to the east concourse but plan to before the next game. This from the west concourse, very nicely done: Commemoratives. The renovation pin is a nice item for fans and the game program is off the hook. Some of the history features were very well prepared expect one—the section on the Little Brown Jug. Page 27, bottom right: Dating back to 1909, the battle for the Little Brown Jug is the oldest trophy game in NCAA Division I Football Subdivision. OK. That’s ok to say “1909” if they meant to say when the teams started playing for the trophy. That’s correct of course. But it continued: Heading into that 1909 contest, Michigan was undefeated in 28 straight games as it headed to Minneapolis.. Ugh. They were describing when the jug was bought and left behind in Minnesota and that was 1903 of course, in the midst of Yost’s point-a-minute teams. In 1909 Michigan rolled into Minneapolis on the heels of a furious “one” game winning streak, albeit an all-timer—the great victory over Penn…
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Skeptical
I see that the News and Free Press are reporting that Nick Sheridan suffered some type of serious leg injury on Tuesday. I sure hope they verified this with the proper sources. They each use the term “apparently” in their headline–does that excuse them if this turns out to be untrue? Update 3/26: Both papers dropped the “apparently” from their latest updates. Angelique has a source close to the program backing up that Sheridan will be out for the spring. Update II: Rodriguez confirms Sheridan’s out 4-6 weeks, minor fracture. No, not the end of the world but if anyone thinks this is good because Forcier might get more snaps, it’s not. That’s almost as bad as the take that Michigan would have been better off in the NIT this season to get more games.
